Coercive control offence: a jurisdictional comparison

In an effort to further protect victim-survivors of domestic and family violence, Victoria is proposing to join other jurisdictions in legislating coercive control as a standalone criminal offence.

On 11 August 2026, the Government introduced the Justice Legislation Amendment (Family Violence, Coercive Control, Good Character, Risk Assessment and Other Matters) Bill 2026 which, among other reforms, proposes to insert a standalone coercive control offence into the Crimes Act 1958. The Bill is now on second reading in the Legislative Assembly.

This paper outlines the key coercive control provisions in the Victorian Bill and compares Victoria’s proposed approach with current and proposed approaches in other Australian jurisdictions.

For more detail on coercive control, the Library published two research papers in 2022, available on our catalogue:

• What is coercive control?
• Intersectional complexities of coercive control

The Library has also prepared a jurisdictional comparison on the provisions in the Bill that relate to the use of ‘good character’ in sentencing', which can be found in our recent Research Papers.

Content warning: This Note contains information that some readers may find distressing as it refers to family, domestic and sexual violence.